Mrs Browns Boys: BBC commission two Christmas Specials for 2013!

After we reported last month that a fourth series of the hugely popular sitcom, Mrs Browns Boys was unlikely to be on our screens until late next year at the very earliest, the BBC bosses have now revealed that they have commissioned a further pair of Christmas specials for this year!

Brendan O’Carroll, the creator and actor who plays the show’s title role of Agnes Brown, admitted that his future commitments meant that there are no plans for a fourth series of the highly popular BBC sitcom till 2014 at least! This was in part due to the fact that O’Carroll, who saw his show take home the award for Best Situation Comedy at this year’s National Television Awards, announced earlier this week that plans are underway to turn the hugely hilarious studio audience filmed comedy into a feature length film.

The film, believed to be entitled Mrs Brown D’Movie, will focus on O’Carroll’s character, Agnes Brown’s plight to stop a shopping centre being built on the site where her fruit and veg stall currently resides. Helping her in her quest for justice is a barrister whose career is circling the drain due to his Tourette’s condition which sees him suffer repeated outbursts of foul mouthed obscenities, a part O’Carroll wrote for Downton Abbey star, Hugh Bonneville!

This lead O’Carroll to reveal that there would be a delay in a fourth series, and admit there weren’t any plans for one in the first place anyway:

“I always said from the very start it would be three series and that would be it, but it’s been so successful and they’re offering so much money,” O’Carroll admitted to the Sun newspaper.

“I certainly didn’t think I’d be as fond of it after three series as I am, I actually honestly thought I would be a bit tired and a bit fed up.”

However, fear not Mrs Browns Boys fans as, despite a fourth series not coming anytime soon, we do have not one, but two Christmas specials to look forward to this year!

Last year we were treated to a double festive helping of Mrs Brown and her dysfunctional family which drew in a whopping 15 million viewers over the Christmas period.

And the BBC has today revealed that a similar double dose has now been commissioned for Christmas 2013:

Station controller Danny Cohen said: “I’m absolutely delighted to confirm that Mrs Brown’s Boys will be spending Christmas 2013 on the channel with two special episodes.”

O’Carroll said: “It’s a great privilege to be invited into people’s homes at such a magical time of year.”